CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING SNOWSHOE RUNNING 3 NORDIC SKIING’S OLYMPIC HOPES 9 U.S. SNOWSHOE NATIONALS RACE FREE! JANUARY 20,000 CIRCULATION CAPITAL REGION • SARATOGA • GLENS FALLS • ADIRONDACKS 2010 Visit Us on the Web! AdkSports.com THE SUMMIT OF BLUE MOUNTAIN. PHOTOS BY BILL INGERSOLL CONTENTS ARTICLES & FEATURES Central Peak 1 Snowshoe Hiking Central Peak: Blue Mountain Hiking Blue Mountain in Winter 2 Alpine Skiing & Snowboarding by Bill Ingersoll Lift Service Off-Piste Skiing lue Mountain is a wildly popular hike, and although I Tirrell Pond, and the red-marked trail to the right is the route 3 Cross-Country Skiing admit to a personal bias against it – too many towers to Blue Mountain. Nordic Skiing’s Olympic Hopes Bon the summit and not enough “wildness” – I recently The Trail 9 Snowshoe Running decided to give it another look. With my dog Lexie leading The trail leads east from the parking area, elevation 2,205 the way, and with a new pair of mountaineering snowshoes feet, cutting through the woods to a logging road and bearing Eastward Ho! Snowshoe Nationals to break in, I climbed Blue and decided this was an especially right. The first part of the trail is on private land, and courtesy CALENDAR OF EVENTS good winter hike with several things going for it: a well-used demands that hikers remain on the trail corridor. You cross 4-7 January - March 2010 trail with a reliably good base, and one of the most celebrated numerous small streams as you traverse the lower slopes of More Than 250 Things to Do! views of any Adirondack peak. The terrain is comparable to the mountain, encountering only moderate grades in the first the High Peaks but requires only a fraction of the time and 1.2 miles. You crest one height-of-land and descend slightly COLUMNS effort. into the next drainage on a course leading just to the east of 8 The Non-Medicated Life Located near the geographic heart of the Adirondack south. Benefitting the Planet Park, Blue Mountain is a hike that everyone should do. At the end of the 1.2 miles, at roughly 2,835 feet in eleva- As Well As the Individual Getting There tion, you reach a junction with the old trail to the summit, 15 From the Publisher & Editor The route begins at the prominent parking area at the which began closer to Blue Mountain Lake and which was height-of-land just north of the Adirondack Museum on NY closed years ago. You will not likely notice this junction now, Shine Bright in 2010! Routes 28N and 30, about 1.4 miles north of Blue Mountain except that this point now marks the turning point where RACE RESULTS Lake. Although the summer trailhead is not plowed, enough the current trail bears northeast and begins the steep ascent 10 - 14 September 2009 snow is winged back from the highway to allow ample park- towards the summit, which begins immediately. Top Finishers in 12 Events ing for winter hiking. Note that two hiking trails begin from Thousands of feet have worn the trail to bedrock, so that this location. The yellow-marked trail to the left leads to in summer the trail is like a paved sidewalk for most of the See SNOWSHOE HIKING, 15 • Adventure • Backpacking • Bicycling • Canoeing • • Duathlon • Environment • Fitness • Health • Hiking • Running • Bicycling Hiking FREE SAVE THE ADMISSION! DATE! SUMMER EXPO April 24 & 25 • Saturday 10-6 & Sunday 10-5 Saratoga Springs City Center, Saratoga Springs The Capital Region’s Outdoor Sports, Health/Fitness and Travel Expo! Featuring 100 Exhibitors, Sales, Demos, Clinics, Kids Activities & More AdkSports.com • (518) 877-8788 Duathlon • Fitness • Health • Fitness • Duathlon PHOTOS BY BRIAN TEAGUE • Kayaking • Mountain Biking • Orienteering • Rock Climbing • Rowing • Running • Swimming • Trail Running • Triathlon • Walking • Wilderness Skills • 2 Adirondack Sports & Fitness Technique – Other than decision-mak- // ALPINE SKIING & SNOWBOARDING // ing and knowing the area well, skiers and rid- ers could pay more attention to technique. Lift Service Off-Piste Skiing Carving off-piste takes a different approach than on the hard pack. Just because you have by Mickey Stone or with friends. Where to Go – Now we know the West is a freeride ski or board, with twin tips and fat lades, chutes, drops, ungroomed, back- known for this type of skiing with their vast 90-plus millimeters under your feet, does Gcountry, trees, steeps, crud, powder acreage above timberline, large snowfalls, not mean you can negotiate around trees in and freeride are all the terms that come to and areas that are left untouched. Even in ungroomed snow. mind when describing the off-piste. These the East there are areas that receive 250-400 descriptions give one thoughts of adventure, inches of snow a year with the best ung- Active absorption or the sucking up of risk, exhilaration, fun, accomplishment and roomed glades, steeps and powder runs your legs as you tilt and steer will allow you enjoyment with our natural environment. around. One of the beauties here is the num- to move across the snow lightly and smooth- Today if you pick up the popular ski and ber of ski areas that you can ride the lift and ly. When the ski or board is in the snow it ride magazines you will see on the cover and easily scoot off-piste within the boundaries. will bend as you stand against it. When you throughout pictures of snowsports enthu- At times these areas have small rock ledge siasts in powder, the air, glades and ung- GLADES SKIING IN THE suck your legs under you the skis or board drop offs, frozen waterfalls, thinned out BUMPS AT WHITEFACE roomed snow capturing face shots of snow glades, open meadows, tight fir trees, and PHOTO BY will unbend and send you in an arc. Learning and a smile from ear to ear. unique features from the snow accumula- DAVE SCHMIDT/ to bend and unbend will allow you descend So what does off-piste really mean? Well, tion and local topography. COURTESY OF ORDA easily through the snow. Learn to allow your the word “piste” means a run of hard-packed In New York, Gore and Whiteface give snow or prepared snow trail. So adding the you a big mountain feel with many gladed ness. legs to feel like a pendulum underneath your word “off” to that denotes terrain that is areas of all varieties and levels. Some other With proper preparation and deci- hips and torso. You have seen it before on ski sion-making one can enjoy the off-piste ungroomed and not a designated trail that adventurous areas are West, Hickory, Titus, racer Bode Miller when the body is still and is maintained with groomers and snow mak- Willard, Oak, Belleayre, Plattekill, Hunter within the ski area boundaries. Here are the legs move back and forth. A sound invest- ing machines. These words have been very and Windham, with some steep pitches some Standard Operating Procedures that common in Europe for decades and origi- and glades with bumps. In Vermont, Mad we instill in our PSIA-E programs: Check all ment is to hire a certified ski or board pro at nated France by alpinists at the turn of the River Glen, Smugglers’ Notch, Stowe, Jay, equipment before entering an off-piste area; one of these mountains and ask to learn the century. Killington, Mount Snow, Sugarbush, Okemo, proper clothing that can be vented when hik- techniques for skiing crud and powder. It Now we add “lift service” to compli- ing; goggles, helmets, hydration and a snack Magic and Bolton offer a wide range of glad- will be worth the time and money when you cate things even further. Basically, we are ed ungroomed areas. In Massachusetts, are musts; map of the area and compass; describing the ability for a skier or rider to Jiminy Peak has some glades skiing as well. have traveled and descended the area before enjoy your turns in the off-piste. ride a surface lift, and then to be able to trav- Safety – At times skiers and riders feel or accompanied by a guide that knows the Enjoy your time in the off-piste and fol- el to an area that is ungroomed with its natu- these off-piste areas are like the piste trails area and can be trusted; ski in groups of three low the simple guidelines for your safety to five people, never one or two; do not enter ral terrain features and conditions. Now why where most people share the slopes. What and fun. Things may happen out there, but would anyone want to do that? Especially we all have to remember is that once ven- off-piste areas unless you have enough time at least you are prepared and have a friend with lift ticket prices and all the care that go turing off-piste within the boundaries we to get back to the area by lift closing time; and into the piste areas. are in another environment, so totally dif- always inform someone where you are going that can get help, and stay with you if some- Once a skier or rider can use all the ferent. There are obstacles, more difficult and when you plan on returning. thing happens. Sound decisions and being mountain trails, the lure and challenge to be snow conditions, topography changes that During the season ease into the ung- prepared go a long way. Powder to the peo- able to master what Mother Nature gives to can be confusing to follow, visibility issues, roomed snow, train, practice reading the ple can be found in the off-piste! us each day on an ungroomed trail is one of and one’s own endurance comes into play.